Head-to-head · profiles checked Sep 30, 2026
Pick GitHub Copilot for help inside the editor you already use and a cloud agent that opens pull requests, from $0 to $100 a month. Pick Codex if you already pay for ChatGPT and want one agent across CLI, IDE, desktop and web. Codex privacy terms and several limits could not be verified.
We wrote this from our own profiles of OpenAI Codex, verified 2026-09-29, and GitHub Copilot, verified 2026-09-30, both built from official vendor pages; we ran no benchmark, used no third-party tests and took no vendor payments.
Pick GitHub Copilot if you want completions and chat inside the editor you already use, plus a cloud agent that opens pull requests, with published prices from $0 to $100 a month for individuals. Pick Codex if you already pay for ChatGPT and want one coding agent across a CLI, an IDE extension, a desktop app and the web, or you want to run it in CI with an API key. Codex privacy terms and several limits could not be verified, so the privacy comparison leans on Copilot's documented terms. The two overlap: Copilot Pro+ can delegate tasks to Codex as a preview feature.
Based on our OpenAI Codex profile verified 2026-09-29 and GitHub Copilot profile verified 2026-09-30. Codex pricing page content, privacy terms, context window and sandbox details could not be confirmed, and no benchmark was run.
Our own captures of each vendor's public pages. Click a frame for the full-size image.
If you only want the answer, this is the table. Everything below is the evidence from the two documented profiles.
| You want to | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Autocomplete code while typing | GitHub Copilot | Copilot lists inline suggestions and next edit suggestions on every plan; Codex does not list completions |
| Work in JetBrains, Visual Studio or Xcode | GitHub Copilot | Copilot lists these IDEs; Codex lists VS Code, Cursor and Windsurf only |
| Run an agent in a terminal | Either | Codex has an open-source CLI; Copilot CLI has interactive and programmatic modes with tool approvals |
| Delegate a GitHub issue and get a pull request | GitHub Copilot | Copilot cloud agent works from an assigned issue or @copilot mention and opens a pull request on paid plans |
| Start a coding task from your phone | Either | Codex on web and iOS is listed for Plus; Copilot works on GitHub Mobile |
| Run an agent in CI with an API key | OpenAI Codex | Codex lists an API-key option for CI; Copilot has no pay-per-token model API on the pages checked |
| Review pull requests automatically | Either | Codex reviews connected GitHub repos on ChatGPT plans; Copilot reviews on paid plans. Quality not tested |
| Manage seats, policies and audit logs for a team | GitHub Copilot | Copilot Business and Enterprise list seat management, budgets, audit logs and content exclusion; Codex lists workspace admin features |
| Use a free plan as a student | GitHub Copilot | Copilot Student is free for verified students; Codex lists no student plan |
| Plan | Tool | Price | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Codex Free (ChatGPT) | OpenAI Codex | $0 | Desktop app only listed; usage limits apply |
| Codex Go | OpenAI Codex | $8/mo | Desktop app only listed; usage limits apply |
| Codex Plus | OpenAI Codex | $20/mo | Codex on CLI, IDE, web and iOS; usage limits apply |
| Codex Pro | OpenAI Codex | From $100/mo | Tiers of $100, $200 or $500 a month; mapping to usage not confirmed |
| Codex Business | OpenAI Codex | $25/user/mo | $20 per user billed annually; usage limits apply |
| Codex API key | OpenAI Codex | API rates | No GitHub code review or Slack |
| Copilot Free | GitHub Copilot | $0 | 2,000 completions a month; limited AI credits |
| Copilot Student | GitHub Copilot | $0 | Verified students only |
| Copilot Pro | GitHub Copilot | $10/mo | 1,500 AI credits a month; unlimited completions |
| Copilot Pro+ | GitHub Copilot | $39/mo | 7,000 AI credits a month; premium models |
| Copilot Max | GitHub Copilot | $100/mo | 20,000 AI credits a month |
| Copilot Business | GitHub Copilot | $19/user/mo | 1,900 AI credits per user, pooled |
| Copilot Enterprise | GitHub Copilot | $39/user/mo | 3,900 AI credits per user, pooled; needs GitHub Enterprise Cloud |
USD as published on each vendor's pricing page, checked Sep 30, 2026. OpenAI Codex pricing in full · GitHub Copilot pricing in full
| OpenAI Codex | GitHub Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Messages / rate limits | Usage limits apply per plan; exact numbers not stated | Free: 2,000 completions/mo. Pro 1,500, Pro+ 7,000, Max 20,000 AI credits/mo; completions on paid plans are unlimited |
| Context / file size | Not stated | Not stated |
| Seats / team | Business and Enterprise/Edu plans; limits not stated | Business 1,900 and Enterprise 3,900 AI credits per user per month, pooled; extra usage at $0.01 per credit if admins allow |
| Feature | OpenAI Codex | GitHub Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Image generation | Not stated | Not stated |
| Voice | Not stated | Not stated |
| File upload | Not stated | Not stated |
| Web search | Not stated | Not stated |
| Agents / tools | Local CLI agent and cloud agent; GitHub code review and Slack on ChatGPT plans | IDE agent mode, Copilot CLI, cloud agent, code review, MCP servers; cloud agent also reachable from Slack and Teams |
| API | API key billed at API rates | Copilot SDK; no standalone pay-per-token model API found |
| Mobile apps | iOS on the Plus plan | GitHub Mobile |
| IDE integration | VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf | VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode, Neovim |
| OpenAI Codex | GitHub Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Training on your data | Not confirmed | Free, Pro and Pro+ may be used for training unless you opt out; Business and Enterprise not used |
| Retention | Not confirmed | Business/Enterprise IDE chat and completions: engagement data kept two years; github.com chat retains prompts for thread history |
| Business controls | Workspace admin features listed on Business; details not stated | Content exclusion, public code filter, audit logs, budgets, MCP allow lists, IP indemnity, Data Protection Agreement |
Taken from each vendor's published policy pages at the time of our check. Policies change; the source links are at the bottom.
OpenAI's coding agent for the CLI, IDE extension, desktop app, web and iOS, included in ChatGPT plans or billed by API.
Free stops at: Desktop app only listed, Usage limits apply
Verified developers.openai.com (opens OpenAI Codex website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $8/mo US · checked Sep 29
AI coding assistant from GitHub offering code completions, chat and agent features in editors, the terminal and GitHub.
Free stops at: 2,000 completions per month, Limited chat and agent usage (allowance of GitHub AI Credits)
Verified github.com (opens GitHub Copilot website in a new tab)
Free · paid from $10/mo US · checked Sep 30
Copilot has the lower entry price among paid plans: Pro is $10/mo against $20/mo for ChatGPT Plus, which carries Codex on the CLI, IDE, web and iOS. Codex also has a $8/mo Go plan, but it lists the desktop app only. Both have a free plan. Neither price is a flat guarantee: Codex has usage limits per plan and Copilot meters chat and agents in AI credits.
Yes. A Free ChatGPT plan includes Codex, but only the desktop app is listed and usage limits apply. Free and Go plans have fewer surfaces than Plus.
Yes. Copilot Free gives 2,000 completions a month and a limited allowance of AI credits to individuals without an organization seat. Verified students get Copilot Student, and verified teachers and maintainers of popular open-source projects may get Pro free.
Not on Business or Enterprise. On Free, Pro and Pro+, prompts, suggestions and code snippets may be used for training unless you opt out in Copilot settings. For Codex we could not confirm training use or retention, because its privacy page returned a 404.
Both offer it, with different limits. Codex reviews connected GitHub repositories automatically on ChatGPT plans, not with an API key. Copilot reviews pull requests on GitHub and diffs in editors on paid plans only, and review draws on AI credits and, from 2026-06-01, GitHub Actions minutes. We ran no quality comparison.
Partly. Copilot lists delegating tasks to third-party agents, including OpenAI Codex, as a preview on Pro+, Max, Business and Enterprise. Exact behavior was not tested.
Only official vendor pages. No third-party benchmarks, forum threads or press were used. How we review.
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